Monday Reflection – March 30, 2020 Submission Over Stubbornness

Monday Reflection – March 30, 2020

Submission Over Stubbornness

When people fall, do they not get up again? If they go astray, do they not turn back?Jeremiah 8:4

In Jeremiah 8, the Prophet continues on the same path as chapter 7, announcing the judgement that God will bring against his people. For him, there is no cure for the senseless rejection of God by the people of Judah. Having ended chapter 7 declaring that the Valley of Hinnom would be filled with rotting corpses, food for scavenging birds, Jeremiah begins chapter 8 noting the utter disgrace that will come upon the people. The bones of the kings of Judah… those of the priests and prophets will be brought out of the graves. Even the bones of the wicked who died before the Babylonians came would be disgraced; they would not be gathered nor buried, rather they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. So great will be the misery they face, that the people of Judah will choose death over life, as death will become to them a welcome relief.  

It is the depth of the people’s stubbornness to return to God that Jeremiah highlights in today’s Watchword. Hear God, through the weeping Prophet, describe the people’s condition: “When people fall, do they not get up again? If they go astray, do they not turn back? Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding? …No man repented of his wickedness… Everyone turned to his own course…” For Yahweh, it is unbelievable that Judah would not return to him. They were caught in a perpetual backsliding with no sign of repentance.

For God, the people were determined to go their own way, as determined and as energetic as the horse is as it rushes into the battle. Birds understand the seasons of the year and how they must respond to them. Yet the people of God were ignorant; they were worse off than birds with small brains. Charles Spurgeon noted that the migratory birds know when to come and go; they know where to go; by some strange instinct, they also know the way to go; they show their wisdom by actually going to the sunny land. In contrast, God’s people reject both God and his word and foolishly determine their own path of life.

Lest we be quick to judge the people of Judah, let me hasten to remind us that we are no different. We disobey God so often, reject his counsel, purposefully ignore his directives, turn a blind eye to his word, and stubbornly refuse to submit. Instead, we plot our own path, become consumed in and led by our estrogen and testosterone, get driven by our ego, display utter stubbornness, and become mule-headed. I believe that deep in this text is God’s invitation that if we return to him, his grace is ever at hand to dispense to us, and he is always ready and willing to return to those who return to him. Hear Jesus in John 6:37: “Anyone who comes to me I will never drive away.”

In the midst of the crisis in the world today, may it be a time of reflection and introspection. May we hear God’s clarion call to return to him, confess our sins and submit to him. And as our brother Stuart encouraged me as I visited with him, ‘Stay close to God’.  Jermaine Gibson